In this IPR Public Lecture Professor Janine Wedel - IPR Global Chair and Professor in the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University - introduces a new breed of influence elite that has emerged over the past several decades. In contrast to the 'power elites' described by sociologist C. Wright Mills a half century ago, she argues, the muscle of today’s influence elites resides at least as much in social networks as in command-and-control bureaucracy. These novel elites are less visible, less stable, and more mobile and global in reach than their forebears. They hold sway through informal, flexible, and unaccountable means and use consulting firms, think tanks, nonprofits, and 'grassroots organisations', among other entities, as vehicles of influence, not to mention the Internet and social media.

Professor Wedel also contends that today’s influence elites largely defy democratic oversight. Conventional concepts inadequately capture their modus operandi and roles in contemporary democratic states. Yet these players and their practices are systemic and widespread across at least some global venues and Western democracies in arenas ranging from energy and health care to finance and foreign policy.

Understanding how today’s influence elites operate is crucial, she concludes - both because their practices are far-reaching and because they dominate decisions that affect the entire world.

This IPR Public Lecture took place on 28 April 2016